UK workers are 'losing out' to EU migrants

EUROPEAN migrants are more likely to have jobs if they live in the UK than British people, official figures reveal.

80 per cent of working-age EU nationals were in work last year compared to 75.4 per cent of British[GETTY]

Nearly 80 per cent of working-age EU nationals were in work last year compared to 75.4 per cent of British citizens aged 20 to 64.

The figures – published yesterday by the EU’s statistical wing Eurostat – will further stoke fears that immigrants are snatching jobs from people born in the UK.

The revelation follows Home Office figures showing parts of the country are struggling with huge numbers of migrants, putting public services such as schools and hospitals in crisis.

Responding to the EU figures yesterday Sir Andrew Green, of MigrationWatch UK, said: “These show that as the UK economy has recovered, the employment rate of British workers is increasing much more slowly than for EU workers.

“This raises the question of whether British workers are losing out to immigrant workers.”

He said differences in skills and education, as identified by the International Monetary Fund, may be to blame.

UK Independence Party trade and immigration spokesman Steven Woolfe said: “These stats show the unequal nature of our current migration policy which puts Europeans before Britons.

Britain should look after our own workers first. It is scandalous that a higher percentage of EU citizens than Britons are employed in Britain

UK Independence Party trade and immigration spokesman Steven Woolfe

“Britain should look after our own workers first. It is scandalous that a higher percentage of EU citizens than Britons are employed in Britain.

“The million Britons currently unemployed must surely be asking why the UK is a member of the EU?

“We need to look after the employment prospects of our own citizens first and do what is best for Britain.

“Ukip wants to control the number and quality of migrants from around the globe to help our economy and not hinder British nationals who want to work.

“We need to concentrate on taking quality from around the world rather than an enforced and unlimited quantity from the EU.”

Analysis of the Eurostat figures showed that only eight of the 27 other EU countries had higher employment among their EU migrant population than the indigenous workers.

Job prospects for European citizens in Britain are now better than before the recession began in 2008.

The EU employment rate fell from 79 per cent in 2008 to 77.8 per cent two years later. It has now bounced back to 79.2 per cent – or almost eight out of 10 of all eligible EU migrants living in the UK.